The Guru Of Malad is a historical novel written by Gordon Epperson (Professor Emeritus of Music, University of Arizona) and set in the small town of Malad, Georgia in the 1930s. When a man of education and refinement returns home, the paradox of conflicting ways of life threaten to overwhelm him. Racism and bigotry as well as the uglier sides of sexuality and politics form a dark undercurrent in Malad, in this hard-hitting story. The Guru Of Malad is one of those books that are so easy to pick up and so hard to put down!

In his finely honed novel, The Guru Of Malad, author Gordon Epperson weaves a tale of life in Georgia in 1936---a life of gentility, grace and manners, at least on the surface. But underlying this superficiality are real characters suffering real problems that the reader can align and commiserate with.

Dr. Robert Dowland returns to Malad from New York City, not quite the success he wanted to be. This physician, pianist, poet and literary critic returns to his roots to, hopefully, accept the Presidency of Cherokee College and the success he so needed.

Gordon Epperson fills his richly inspired book with a well defined and developed assortment of people, each in their own situation, and each leading lives (like us) that are filled with joy, sadness and frustration. One of these characters is a black lady, Doris Williams, hired to be Dr. Dowland's part time housekeeper and cook. At his first sight of Doris, "...he felt the breath go out of him."

And so we have a story of life in the South in the 30's; race relations in the South in the 30's; and one man's image of himself as cosmopolitan, rid of narrow prejudices, who wants very much to be president of a college that did not even admit blacks.

This reviewer could not stop turning the pages of this epic story. Each was a revelation of what was (and could be)---all leading to enlightenment, fulfillment and a miraculous epiphany. Gordon Epperson, internationally known cellist. teacher, poet and story teller has used all of his wisdom and knowledge to produce this heroic novel. In this reviewer's opinion, The Guru Of Malad should be cast as a major motion picture akin to Gone With The Wind!

"The Guru of Malad" is an enchanting mix of satire, comedy, and drama--skillfully blended and beautifully balanced. Although the novel is not long, the people in this small Southern town become flesh and blood as the author gently but incisively exposes their frailties. However, he does not ignore their admirable qualities; these are complex characters. As the plot develops, Epperson takes time to explore the characters' interior lives to show how they have shaped their self-images. For example, in one passage, Robert Dowland, candidate for President of Cherokee College, affirms to himself his enlightened views on racial matters, rationalizes why he must keep these views to himself for the time being in order to advance his career--and feels momentarily irritated by the resulting moral dilemma ("It was so troublesome. Why couldn't he have been born in Massachusetts or New Hampshire? How could he, one man, change the mores of a whole region?"). In summary, Epperson creates a compelling portrait of this town. It is clear that he likes his characters, despite their flaws, and he draws on his own Southern background to make them real. This novel should have wide appeal and is highly recommended.

Internationally known cellist, teacher, author and poet Gordon Epperson wrote Sonnets From India while stationed there during World War II. They reflect the influence of the culture experienced first hand, after an early connection with Indian thought, the principles of yoga and the writings of Vivekananda and Aurobindo.

Each sonnet is a perception of truths that range from love and loveliness to heroes and heroines to the celebration of life. In Threshold, for instance, Mr. Epperson speaks (beautifully) to the sunrise---the beginning of a new day and his dreams. "I still have hopes that I may someday find/ What lies beyond departments of the mind."

Here is poetry crafted to express the human condition, clearly. And while metaphysical in tone, Sonnets from India is not otherworldly but, instead, an insight into what can be. In The Good Things we read that bliss is not material. Instead they include, "...love of woman; child; exquisite power/ Of lucid thought, and music; home and law."

Additionally, the reader will find nine free-form poems written in later decades. Five Oases is especially telling for this reviewer. Mr. Epperson writes, "Seek deliverance/ In printed words./ Travel/ Esoteric avenues/ Swallow vials/ Of curatives/ Prescribed by experts/ Knowing, known/ Tune up the viols/ Violence is abroad/ Seek deliverance/ In Hell. Or else/ Write off the Universe."

Sonnets From India is the kind of book you can't put down. It grips your heart and your mind with thought that begets thought. Gordon Epperson is a very special being---and that is reflected in Sonnets From India.

Recently I re-read this collection by Gordon Epperson, not in sequence , but sampling here and there as I felt drawn by a particular title or line.

The author actually says in his Introduction that the sonnets were not written as a sequence. His phrase " the congenial rhythms of iambic pentameter" is very apt, for it is evident that the poet has truly mastered the form as well as invested it with original content.

One must envy Epperson not only his felictous turns of phrase but the passion which gave rise to this inspired collection. Never mechanical , these lines address a basic mystery: "Who are you. . . . Who am I?" and admit no easy answers.

Edmund Gurney (1847-1888) was a man this reviewer would have liked to have met. A brilliant man who lived in London, Mr. Gurney was a writer of articles about philosophy, psychology, religion, education, literature and the arts. Additionally, he was schooled in music (his passion), medicine and law and was a champion of both social justice and animal rights.

Gordon Epperson, author, professor emeritus of music at the University of Arizona and famed concert cellist has given us an insightful look at this man in his book, The Mind of Edmund Gurney. More than a biography, much more, The Mind of Edmund Gurney offers the reader an in-depth view of a man who was way ahead of his time. He was a friend to George Eliot, Samuel Butler, Henry Sedgwick, Leslie Stephen and William James, with whom Mr. Gurney had an extensive correspondence. It was through these letters that Professor Epperson was able to fashion a detailed and scholarly look at this complex and charismatic individual.

The Mind of Edmund Gurney presents a vivid picture of a dynamic person of extraordinary accomplishment. Even though he died at the early age of 41, he was able to study and write about hypnosis, psychic research, musical criticism---even poetry, in addition to everything else. He collaborated with F. W. H. Myers, author of Human Personality and Its Survival of Bodily Death, in the first significant studies of hypnosis to appear in England, providing convincing evidence of telepathy. And all of this in a rather providential time in history. Professor Epperson writes, "His personality was powerful, his character complex. He had the capacity to enter into the thoughts and feelings of others, and he made a strong impression...on whomever he had to do with."

The only way we have to meet Edmund Gurney is vicariously, through a well documented, thoughtful and provocative book entitled, The Mind of Edmund Gurney. Gordon Epperson has illuminated a life that might otherwise have been lost to history!